


Healing

by castles_and_crowns



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt and comfort, Post-Star Wars: A New Dawn, Pre-Star Wars: Rebels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 01:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castles_and_crowns/pseuds/castles_and_crowns
Summary: Kanan and Hera tend to each other when one of them gets injured during a mission.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Healing" will be two chapters, one from Kanan's POV and one from Hera's POV. They can be connected if you want them to be, or they can act as standalone pieces.
> 
> Also, obviously I am not Dave Filoni, George Lucas, or anyone at Lucasfilm. This is their world and these are their characters.

 

Kanan held—really, cradled—Hera in his arms, as he sprinted up the ramp of the _Ghost._

 

“Go, Chopper. _Now!_ ” he commanded, and moments later they were up in the atmosphere heading for space.

 

Kanan and Hera had taken on an especially dangerous job in the Western Reaches. Neither particularly wanted to take on the job, but the pay was extraordinary and they were hungry and desperate.

 

The operation had been going really well at first, but as Hera and Kanan were escaping, Hera somehow triggered an alarm that caused an explosion within the building they were escaping from. The blowback threw her body forward, and she found she quickly passed out from the awful pain and smoke inhalation. Kanan, who was several meters ahead of her, sensed that she was injured and ran back for her.

Once safely in the ship, Kanan carefully carried Hera, who had thankfully woke up by then, to her quarters and propped her head up on two large pillows, while laying her body on the bed. Her flight suit was charred, and Kanan suspected that beneath the suit she likely had bruises and minor burns covering her small, fragile body.

 

“You should probably get that suit off, so you can assess your injuries and burns and put some bacta bandages on.”

 

Hera groaned in pain again. “I can’t move,” she said weakly. “I think I’d prefer being shot.”

 

“Well, personally, I’m glad they didn’t use a blaster because then you might not be here.”

 

“But I wouldn’t be hurting so damn much,” she replied.

 

Kanan sensed her pain, and it caused his own body to ache for her. He knew for Hera to begin to heal she’d have to remove her suit, but clearly she just couldn’t do that herself right now. There was no one else but Kanan in the ship though with the exception of Chopper, who was obviously not capable of helping in this situation. This left the job to Kanan.

 

“Do you want me to help you?” he asked her, his voice low and uncharacteristically nervous.

 

Hera let out a weak moan that Kanan interpreted to be a ‘yes,’ so he got to work.

 

Kneeling down next to the bed, Kanan tugged off her boots and then her socks.. He went next for the front zipper of her flight suit and slowly began to unzip.

 

“What? No sly remarks?” Hera asked weakly. Kanan felt the affection radiating off of her and was grateful that she was up to making jokes.

 

“I’m afraid I’m all out right now,” he replied kindly. Kanan felt a short laugh vibrate through Hera’s body, and he chuckled a little as well.

 

Next, he removed her long-sleeved gray shirt that she always wore under her suit. Lastly, he removed her helmet and made sure to be extra careful, so as not to further hurt her tender and slightly singed lekku. She was now only in her undergarments.

 

“I’ll go get the med kit and be right back, okay?”

 

Kanan went to the storage area where the med kit was and dug through it for the supplies he needed: tweezers to remove any debris, cotton, antimicrobial creams, bacta bandages, and meds. Much to his disappointment, he discovered that the kit did not contain any anesthetic. It was a very expensive drug even on the black market, and clearly Hera thought she couldn’t justify spending an inordinate amount of credits on it. Fortunately, the kit did have pain meds, though Kanan knew Hera hated taking them.

 

Supplies now in hand, Kanan went back to Hera’s room, where he found her almost sleeping. He hated having to wake her, but he knew once he began tending to her wounds, she’d be wincing and writhing in pain.

 

“Hey,” Kanan said gently, tapping her bare shoulder. “I’m going to get started. Now, every time it really hurts, I want you to squeeze down on the this.”

 

From his pocket, Kanan produced a small squishy red ball he always kept on him. He’d had the ball for as long as he could remember. Along with the holocron and his lightsaber, it was the only other thing Kanan had kept from his padawan days. When he was younger, he’d squeeze the ball when stressed or upset, but now he merely kept it as a remembrance. It wasn’t lucky or anything; he just couldn’t seem to part with it.

 

“Okay,” Hera agreed, as Kanan placed the ball in her hand.

 

“Now, I noticed we don’t have any anesthetic, so once I’m done, these pain meds will have to do.”

 

“I’m not taking them,” Hera replied, weak though still defiant.

 

“Yes, you are,” Kanan countered. “No arguments.”

 

“I hate how they make me feel. I get all woozy and loopy.”

 

“And that’s worse than being in pain?”

 

Hera didn’t respond.

 

“Exactly,” Kanan said. “So you’re going to take them, along with a sedative, and then go fast asleep.”

 

“Okay,” Hera finally grumbled.

 

Kanan got to work on Hera’ injuries, starting with her lekku. Because they had not been adequately covered, Kanan had to tweeze pieces of shrapnel from them. As he went about tweezing the pieces of metal out of her head tails, he’d occasionally glance over at Hera who was squeezing her eyes shut and grimacing. He hated that he had to be the one to do this job because it was hurting her, but he couldn’t very well leave her in the condition she was in.

 

Kanan continued working down her body, dabbing at her injuries and placing bacta bandages wherever necessary. Each time he’d place a bandage, Hera would gasp at the contact and the pain it caused and would then sigh in relief as the cooling ointment took its effect.

 

When he got to her hip, he noticed a bruise, which was a gross reddish purple, peeking out from her undershorts. He suspected the bruise to be much bigger than he could see, but he wasn’t comfortable pulling down the side of her undergarment.

 

Hera must have sensed his reluctance because she said, “Do what you need to do, Kanan. It’s okay.”

 

Kanan sighed and nodded. Swallowing hard, he pulled down the side of her undergarment and saw exactly what he suspected: a nasty oval-shaped bruise approximately the size of his hand covering her entire bony hip and some of her upper thigh. Gently, he took a large bacta bandage, placed it on her hip, and pressed down on it so that the bandage would stick. As he did so, Hera shrieked in pain.

 

“Hera!” he exclaimed. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry!”

 

Hera, who now had tears streaming down her face, sighed heavily. “It only hurt for a moment, but, kriff, it _hurt_.”

 

“I’m so sorry,” Kanan said again, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

 

“It’s okay,” she replied feebly. “Just keep going.”

 

Kanan did as she said, and thankfully, he was done soon after. Next, he needed to give her the pain meds and sedative. He put the first vial containing the liquid pain medicine up to her lips.

 

“Drink,” he instructed.

 

Hera gave him a nasty look (that on any other day would have intimidated him) and parted her lips so that she could drink from the vial. When she was done, she shuddered in disgust.

 

“And the now the sedative,” Kanan said, putting another vial up to her lips.

 

Hera drank from the second vile and groaned. “Thank you, Kanan.”

 

“Of course,” Kanan replied, heading for the door. “Now, rest up. I’ll be back to check up on you in a little bit.”

 

“Wait—Kanan. Stay. _Please._ ”

 

Kanan paused at the door and looked back at Hera, who looked weak and almost desperate. “You need to rest.”

 

“Please,” Hera said, her voice trembling. Fresh tears were in her eyes.

 

“Okay,” he said, and he made his way back to her bed.

 

Hera’s bunk wasn’t very big, and she was already laying in the middle of it, which left very little room for Kanan. Despite this, he did his best to lie down beside her, and when he did, Hera immediately moved her head from the pillow it was resting on to rest it on Kanan’s chest. He was happy to see that she could move some, and even happier with where she chose to rest her head.

 

Kanan listened as Hera’s breathing became soft and rhythmic, and he sighed in relief, knowing that she wasn’t currently in any more pain. Eventually, they fell asleep, her head still resting on his chest and his arm around her

 

***

 

A few hours later, Kanan woke up from an uneasy sleep feeling stiff and groggy. In her slumber, Hera had moved her head from his chest and instead curled up beside him; his arm, now numb, was still around her.

 

Being as careful as he could be without waking Hera up, Kanan rose from the bed and quietly exited the room. He went first to the galley to eat a quick snack and then headed to his own quarters to get a little rest.

 

Just as he was starting to fall asleep, he heard a loud, almost manic laugh come from Hera’s room. Anxiously, he got up from bed and raced over to Hera’s quarters. What he saw perplexed—and frankly, shocked—him.

 

Hera seemed to be wide-awake and was sitting up, clutching at the pillow Kanan had rested on earlier. She was giggling at the pillow and mumbling incoherent words to it.

 

“Hera?”

 

Hera’s head snapped away from the pillow and up at Kanan. “ _Oh…_ ”

 

“Hera, are you okay?” Kanan asked, bewildered by what he was seeing.

 

“I am now,” she replied in a sultry tone, completely unabashed.

 

Kanan watched Hera’s eyes as they trailed down his body, and he realized with some embarrassment that she was checking him out. He had been sleeping (or trying to), so he had taken his shirt off and was currently only wearing a loose pair of gray cotton pants.

 

Kanan laughed nervously. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.”

 

“Oh, I feel _great_ ,” Hera responded, smiling broadly

 

It suddenly occurred to Kanan that Hera’s odd behavior was a side effect of the pain meds she had been so reluctant to take.   “Can I get you some more sedative? Perhaps you could use a little more sleep?”

 

“I could use a little more Kanan,” Hera said and then giggled.

 

Kanan’s cheeks flushed, and he didn’t know what to do. He had never seen Hera like this before. (Hell, he’d never even seen Hera _drunk_ before.) She hadn’t ever taken the pain meds in the year they had been working together, though she had told him on many occasions that she loathed them and hoped to never be in enough pain that she’d need to take them again.

 

Gingerly, Kanan took a step toward Hera and her bed and attempted to tuck her back in. “Hera, you need to rest right now. You and I can talk later.”

 

Hera grabbed Kanan’s hands. “Kanan, I don’t want to _talk_.” And then she pulled him onto the bed with her.

 

“Hera!” Kanan gasped, now completely red-faced and trying to wriggle his way out of her grasp. “You’re going to hate yourself for this in the morning.”

 

“No, I won’t,” she replied, clearly confused by what he meant. She weakly kept trying to keep him in her grip.

 

“You absolutely will,” Kanan disputed, finally managing to scoot away from her and off the bed.

 

“Do you—do you not love me?” Hera asked, her tone completely shifting as her eyes suddenly became wide and watery.

 

Once again, Kanan was embarrassed. This was not a conversation he had planned on having with Hera any time soon, especially while she was under the influence of medication. But her face—her eyes particularly—looked so fraught that Kanan, against his better judgment, sat back down on the bed, though he did made sure to sit on the edge.

 

“Of course, I love you, Hera. You’re my partner. And you probably saved my life by taking me on as your crew.”

 

Hera didn’t reply for a few moments, and Kanan, who had not been looking at her as he spoke, thought that she might have fallen back asleep. Finally though, she responded.

 

“I love you too, you know?”

 

Kanan smiled despite himself and glanced over at the incapacitated Twi’lek, who was once again hugging her pillow. To Kanan’s surprise, her eyes, which looked down at her lap, had a shade of seriousness in them.

 

“I know you do.”

 

“Do you?” Hera asked, her voice quiet.

 

“Sure,” Kanan answered.

 

“I can’t recall ever telling you before.”

 

Kanan chuckled. “You haven’t, but I know anyway.”

 

“How?” Hera asked. She let go of the pillow and inched a little closer to the edge of the bed where Kanan sat. Kanan noticed her wince a little and assumed she must have felt an ache from one of her injuries.

 

Kanan turned on the bed to face her. “Because of the way your treat me. You’re kind, understanding, and compassionate. You look out for me. You make sure I’m taking care of myself. You treat me like family.”

 

For the first time, Kanan noticed, Hera looked a little bashful. “I don’t love you like _family_.”

 

He would be lying if he said he was completely surprised by her words, but it was still nice to hear them. But then Kanan remembered she was high on meds, and his heart sunk a little as he realized that he couldn’t take her words at face value. She definitely sounded like she meant it though. But he couldn’t very well have a serious conversation with her right now.

 

“Okay, Hera,” he said. Anything else he said would need to wait until a later time.

 

“Kanan,” Hera said, now scooting so that she was right up against Kanan, “Why aren’t we together?”

 

“Well…that’s on you,” he began gently. “You’re the one who made those boundaries. I’m just following your lead.”

 

Hera, smiling at Kanan and looking at him with glassy eyes, reached up to his face with her hands and leaned in to kiss him. Kanan saw what she was aiming to do and stood up quickly so that she couldn’t complete her attempt.

 

He had dreamed of kissing Hera many, many times, but he knew it wouldn’t be right to kiss her when she was like this. He doubted she had any idea what she was doing and knew she’d be mortified by her actions if she remembered them when she woke up.

 

When Kanan backed away, Hera’s eyes changed again. Though still glassy, her eyes returned to their playful look from moments before. “Kanan Jarrus, you really need to shave! That facial hair is not regulation on my ship.”

 

Kanan laughed, relieved. “Okay, I promise you that I will. Now will you promise me something?”

 

“Sure,” Hera replied happily. The rebuff from moments before seemed already forgotten.

 

Now Kanan rose from the bed, and to his surprise, Hera did not try to stop him. “Get some sleep. When I come back to check on you, I want to see you asleep and hear you snoring.”

 

“Okay,” Hera said, crawling under the covers of the bed.

 

“Good night, Hera.”

 

“Night, Kanan,” Hera said softly, her head already on the pillow.

 

***

 

The next morning, Kanan was tinkering around in the cockpit when Hera limped into the room.

 

“Good morning,” she greeted groggily.

 

Kanan turned around and looked at Hera, who was dressed again in her flight suit. He tried to be subtle, as he looked her over, hoping to gauge whether or not she remembered the events from last night. He couldn’t be sure, but he suspected, based on her body language and expression, that Hera had no memory of her bizarre behavior.

 

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

 

Hera stroked one of her lekku. “A little better. At least I can walk again.”

 

“That’s good to hear,” Kanan said.

 

“I’m exhausted though. That sedative really knocked me out,” Hera told him, as she sat down in the pilot’s seat.

 

“Well, then it did its job,” Kanan replied neutrally.

 

“Think you’ll be ready for another mission soon?” Hera asked, a sly smile tugging at her lips.

 

“ _Me_? I should ask you that! Don’t you think you could use a little time off to recover?”

 

Hera shrugged. “Here’s how I see it: it’ll take us about five standard days to get to Lothal from where we are right now. During those five days, I’ll take it easy. And by the time we get to there, I’ll be ready to get to work again.”

 

Kanan shook his head at Hera and grinned. “You are something else.”

 

Hera smiled back. “I am, aren’t I?”

 

“You certainly are.”

 

Hera continued to smile at Kanan, and Kanan swore he saw something change in her eyes, similar to what had happened over and over last night. Hera’s eyes altered from content to slightly perplexed.

 

“What is it?” Kanan asked.

 

“I just realized—I didn’t have any weird reaction to the pain meds.”

 

Kanan fought back a smirk and turned to face the navigation board. “Glad to hear it.”

 

“Okay, well, I’m going to make myself some breakfast,” Hera said, getting up from the seat and limping to the door. “Can I get you anything?”

 

“I’m good,” Kanan answered. “Thanks though.”

 

Hera smiled and pulled the ball Kanan had given her the night before out of her pocket. She tossed it to him and said, “You’re so low maintenance, Kanan. That’s why I love you.”

 

 _Well,_ he thought. _It was a start._


	2. Chapter 2

Hera had watched Kanan get into scuffles at grimy cantinas before, but she never witnessed a fight as bad as she had tonight.

 

Hera and Kanan had travelled into a dodgy part of town to get intelligence from a local bartender, who was sympathetic to the fledging rebellion. Together, they sat at the bar, ordered drinks, and listened to all the information the bartender had to offer. Once they had finished, Hera had excused herself to use the ’fresher. When she got back, she saw Kanan in the middle of a brawl with a huge human man. She watched, at first frozen in horror, as Kanan got a few good punches in before he got knocked to the ground and started getting pummeled. Seeing Kanan fall set Hera in to action. She ran up to where the men were fighting and knocked the man out with a low roundhouse kick so smooth and so fast that he didn’t even see it coming. Hera then quickly pulled Kanan to his feet, and they made their way back to the _Ghost_ as quickly as possible.

 

Kanan didn’t say much on the way back to the ship; he only moaned in pain and swore under his breath. And when they got back to the _Ghost_ , Kanan stopped speaking entirely. He just slumped into the booth in the common area of the ship.

 

“What in the stars was that, Kanan?” Hera asked, as she pulled down the med kit from a shelf and brought it over to where he was sitting.

 

“A bar fight,” Kanan answered, looking down at his bloody bruised knuckles.

 

“I’ve seen you in bar fights before but nothing like that. Kanan, that was actually scary. That guy could have killed you.”

 

“No, he couldn’t,” Kanan grumbled. “But I appreciate you stepping in anyway. That kick was impeccable.

 

Hera allowed herself to grin a little despite how rattled she was currently feeling. “Thanks. Now let me patch you up.”

 

Kanan looked up from his hands and smiled weakly at Hera. “You don’t need to do that. I’ll just sleep it off.”

 

Hera shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “Kanan, your nose _just_ stopped bleeding, your lip is split, your knuckles are battered, and you’ve probably got some bruised ribs under that shirt. Now, as your captain, I demand you let me fix you up.”

 

For a split second, Kanan seemed shocked by how harsh Hera sounded, but a moment later, Hera saw a wide grin spread across his face. “Well then, aye-aye, Captain.”

 

Hera started by wiping off the now-dried blood from all over Kanan’s face. Kanan remained quiet as she did so, and honestly, Hera was grateful for the quiet. Her nerves were officially shot, and the silence allowed her some time to unwind.

 

Next, she mended up Kanan’s split lip by applying bacta butterfly stiches. She was right in his face now, and she’d never been so close to him. Kanan still remained quiet as Hera tended to his lip, but she saw his eyes watching her carefully. Hera tried to remain focused on the task at hand, but she admitted to herself that it was difficult. His lips were so full and so soft.

 

After his lip, Hera again wiped dried blood from Kanan’s bruised and cut knuckles. She put bacta bandages wherever the skin was torn and slathered the rest of his hands in an icy cream that was supposed to help the swelling go down. Now, Kanan did begin to talk to her, though it was mostly small talk. She thought he may waited to converse with her until she had finished tending to his face. There was something inherently intimate about touching another person’s face, especially someone who Hera had been trying to get out of her mind for over a year now. Hera knew that Kanan had some sort of feelings for her as well. She didn’t know if his feelings were purely physical—she was a young, female, Twi’lek after all—or if the feelings ran deeper. She tried her best not to think about it.

 

When she finished with his hands, Kanan stood up—though with some difficulty. “Thanks, Hera.”

 

“Wait, we’re not done yet,” Hera said, putting a hand up to stop him.

 

Kanan sighed. “Really?”

 

“Really, Kanan,” Hera said, crossing her arms across her chest. “Now sit back down and take off your shirt.”

 

Kanan smirked but didn’t yet sit down or remove his shirt. “Hera, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I think that kind of thing should wait until I’m all healed.”

 

Despite her best attempt to appear aloof, Hera felt her face flush. She didn’t say anything and instead just pointed to the booth where Kanan had just been sitting. Still smirking, Kanan sat back down at the booth. He still hadn’t removed his shirt yet.

 

“The shirt, please.”

 

Kanan shook his head. “I can’t. It hurts too much to lift my arms. I think you might have to cut me out of it.” He winked as he said this.

 

Rolling her eyes and groaning, Hera got a pair of scissors from a nearby cabinet and bent down beside Kanan. “You sure about this?”

 

Kanan raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Go for it.”

 

Hera made a large vertical cut through the middle of the front of the shirt so that the shirt now opened like a jacket would. She pulled the fabric down to expose Kanan’s bare chest, which had three substantial bruises.

 

Even with the bruises, Hera couldn’t help but be kind of in awe of Kanan’s physique. He was slender but toned and a thin layer of hair was sprinkled across his chest. She had seen him without a shirt before, of course, (It was bound to happen on such a small ship) but similarly to his face, Hera had never been so close to him before.

 

“Drink it all in,” Kanan joked.

 

“You want another bruise?” Hera threatened.

 

Kanan chuckled. “Nah, I think I’m good.”

 

“Then let me get to work.”

 

Hera took a large handful of the icy cream and began gently massaging the cream onto the bruised areas: below his right shoulder, above his belly button, and around the right side of his ribcage. Kanan closed his eyes as she did so, but that annoying smile never left his face. She ignored it, of course.

 

When she was done, Hera wiped off the excess cream on the legs of her flight suit and said, “Need help getting to your room?”

 

“I just want to fall asleep here. That that was so relaxing,” Kanan replied, opening his eyes.

 

Hera fought back the smile that was begging to be seen. “Well, you’re welcome. Now, I really think you should go to your room. It won’t be comfortable sleeping here.”

 

Kanan groaned and then nodded. “Okay, fine. You lead the way.”

 

Hera helped Kanan up, led him to his quarters, and helped him onto the bed.

 

“Do you want any meds?” Hera asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

 

Kanan shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine. I’ve been in worse fights back in the day, back before you picked me up.”

 

Now, Hera did allow herself a little smile. “See, I’ve helped you to grow. Don’t go back to your old ways now.”

 

“I won’t,” Kanan said, almost vehemently. “Tonight was different.”

 

Hera was puzzled. “Why? What happened?”

 

Hera was pretty sure she’d never seen Kanan blush before, but she was positive that at this moment his cheeks were rosy pink.

 

“What?” she pressed when he didn’t answer.

 

“I’d rather not say,” Kanan said after a moment.

 

“Tell me, Kanan,” Hera insisted.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Hera,” Kanan responded.

 

It dawned on Hera that Kanan didn’t want to tell her what happened because it involved her. She crossed her arms. “That man said something about me, didn’t he? Probably because I’m a Twi’lek. I’m right, aren’t I?”

 

Kanan looked away and didn’t reply. Hera had her answer.

 

Grabbing Kanan’s hand, Hera’s said, “You don’t have to do that, Kanan. I’m used to men saying nasty things about me.”

 

Still looking away, Kanan replied, “I’m not.”

 

“Well, you’ll just have to get used to it. I can’t have you getting in fights every time we go to a cantina.”

 

“But then I get to have you patch me up,” he said, now looking at her. The smirk had returned.

 

“ _Kanan_ ,” Hera said, in a warning tone.

 

“You’re right, you’re right,” Kanan conceded, squeezing Hera’s hand. “Fine. It won’t be easy though. That kind of nasty talk really makes me mad, especially when it’s about you. But I’ll try to be better. _For you._ ”

 

“Thank you,” Hera said. And then, despite the comment she knew she might get from Kanan, she bent down and kissed his cheek.

 

Shockingly, Kanan didn’t say anything uncouth. His face lit up though, and he grinned broadly at her. “You’re welcome.”

 

Hera, also smiling, rose from the bed. “And maybe when you’re back on your feet, we can practice your sparring. I think I could show you a thing or two.”

 

“You got it, Captain,” Kanan replied, his eyes twinkling.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I'm thinking about writing more of these 2 chapter fics with a common theme. If you have any suggestions, comment below with them!
> 
> I wrote both chapters at like 4am and then also revised them at 4am. I've given both chapters one last look, so hopefully they're in decent shape, but if not, forgive me.


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